For about 18 months or so now Tottenham Hotspur have regularly been linked with the signature of player dubbed the ‘next Modric’ - Dinamo Zagreb maestro Alen Halilovic.

A deal to sign for Spurs, along with team-mate Tin Jedvaj, was even dubbed concluded by the Dinamo president at one point.

But nothing came of it and Halilovic has remained in Croatia ever since that deal collapsed in the summer of 2013.

That has not stopped the apparent interest in his services however. Halilovic has seen many a team linked with snapping him up over the past year - with Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Juventus, CSKA Moscow and Bayern Munich just a few of many teams reportedly keeping tabs on his progress.

"I've never been in talks either with Juventus or with Inter...I love English and Spanish football, and during last summer I was near to a particular club, and they are still tracking me."

With no reported Spanish interest it seemed Spurs had clear sailing to pick up the player when they saw fit - until a spanner in the works arrived earlier this month.

Barcelona were all of a sudden heavily linked with a move for the player - leaving Spurs seemingly trailing behind them.

And now that deal is set to be completed - with Halilovic set to become a Barcelona player in the summer.

Reports in Croatia today suggest that Barca officials will arrive in Zagreb tomorrow to finalise a deal for the player - winning the battle for one of Europe’s most coveted talents in the process.

This has also been confirmed by the clubs executive director Zdravko Mamic - who stated:

“Representatives of Barcelona are in touch with Zoran (Mamic, Dinamo manager and sporting director). Barca already sent a private jet for him this winter, when we trained in Turkey, we stopped the deal. But I'm afraid we're helpless.”

Mathew Nash

I’m Mathew Nash a 27 year old graduate in Sports Studies and I have an insatiable love for sport. With a particularly keen interest for the madcap world of football I have always been known amongst friends as a beacon for bizarre sporting trivia and knowledge. My other passion is for writing and hopefully combining the two will create a superb and entertaining marriage that will create, divide and share opinion.Mathew is a correspondent for the NextGen Series, Ligue 1 and Primeira Liga.